After hosting last year’s FIVB World Cup Olympic final, the venue was re-shaped thanks to the support of the FIVB and is set to play host to this year’s FIVB Moscow Grand Slam in August. Moreover, the facilities that are available there at Vodniy stadium are hosting this weekend the first stop of the Russian Beach Volleyball Championship.

“We eventually could fulfill our dream to create a venue for all beach sports” said the Honorary President of the Russian Volleyball Federation Valentin Zhukov while addressing the media. “All beach sports can finally profit of a first-class facility here in Moscow but our plans are to expand that concept and personally I have already had talks with the local authorities in the Republic of Tatarstan as well as in the regions of Samara and Volgograd to set up something similar there as well. Additional training centers for beach sports will be built in the near future and we hope that this will help the development of such disciplines across Russia” he continued.

“This coming August the world’s best beach volleyball athletes will compete here for the Moscow Grand Slam where FIVB ranking points and prize money will be at stake” added Tournament Director Ilya Volodarskiy. “I hope that the audience will not decrease after we decided to move the tournament from Poklonnaya Gora to the Vodniy stadium. Actually we are working on a very good program to entertain the audience and let them enjoy a Beach Volleyball festival here on the shores of the Khimki reservoir” he stressed. “By opening this center all beach sports have found their home here in Moscow”.

Zhukov said that projects and negotiations are ongoing to possibly establish an association that will bring together all beach sports in Russia. The “Dinamo” center is supposed to host competitions in beach volleyball, beach soccer, beach rugby, as well as beach tennis and beach handball.

The press conference was attended also by Alexander Likholetov – a multiple national champion – who is set to headline the first stop of the Russian Championship running this weekend in Moscow.